GOP Activist Files to Oppose Beleaguered Wright in ’90

Bob Larkin, a veteran Republican activist and former Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce president, has filed papers to oppose embattled Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) in the 1990 primary.

He said Tuesday that he was leaning toward running but planned to make his decision this weekend and announce it Monday. He would be the first candidate to challenge any San Fernando Valley area lawmaker in next year’s election.

“I need to talk to a few more people,” said Larkin, who added that he has been considering a possible GOP primary bid in the far-flung and strongly Republican 37th Assembly District since January but began exploring it seriously only this month. He submitted documents to the state Fair Political Practices Commission on Monday that will allow him to begin raising money

Larkin, 52, who is first vice chairman of the Ventura County Republican Central Committee and a member of the state GOP committee, could be a formidable opponent because of his party and business connections. He has managed three successful Simi Valley City Council campaigns and would be poised to cut into the heart of Wright’s strong base in the city of 101,000.

Antagonized Colleagues

Wright, 59, a five-term lawmaker and former Simi Valley mayor, is considered potentially vulnerable to a well-financed Republican challenge because she antagonized Republican colleagues in Sacramento in December and is under investigation by Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury’s office.

Wright caused a furor among GOP lawmakers in December when she refused to support their bid to replace Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) with Assemblyman Charles M. Calderon of Whittier, one of five Democrats who had opposed Brown’s leadership. Wright said she abstained because she had promised constituents that she would not vote for any Democrat for Speaker.

Bradbury launched his inquiry in March to determine whether Wright improperly sought to intervene with Simi Valley police, judges and the state Department of Motor Vehicles to keep her frequently ticketed daughter Victoria from losing her driver’s license or incurring other penalties. Bradbury is expected to issue his report next week.

Victoria Wright, who has received 27 traffic tickets since 1981, lost her license on March 9. She began a 30-day jail term on Monday for violating the conditions of her probation for a traffic offense.

Cathie Wright, who has known Larkin about 15 years, declined through a spokeswoman to comment Tuesday on his possible candidacy.

Downplays Probe

Larkin, a father of four who owns a State Farm Life Insurance Co. agency in Simi Valley, downplayed Bradbury’s probe of Wright’s efforts to aid her daughter.

“I’m a parent,” Larkin said. “I can empathize with that.”

He said he would make Wright’s ties to Brown the focus of his campaign.

“I’m a Republican, and when I go to vote in the primary next time, I want to go and vote for somebody other than a friend of Willie Brown,” said Larkin, who calls himself a pragmatic conservative. “She’s cut herself out of the Republican Party in Sacramento and has associated herself with the Democrats.”

He estimated that he would need to raise at least $200,000 for a viable campaign in a district that stretches from Lompoc in Santa Barbara County to Lancaster in the Antelope Valley in northern Los Angeles County. Reaching this goal, he said, “might be possible.”

Larkin, a Simi Valley resident for 21 years, managed the campaigns of Jim Smith and Dave Rees for the Simi Valley council in the 1970s and Councilwoman Vicky Howard in 1982.

Larkin is the second Republican activist to express interest in challenging Wright. Robert Wilcox, 23, a former aide of Assemblywoman Marian W. La Follette (R-Northridge), has been exploring a primary bid for a month. Wilcox said Tuesday: “The response has been very good. I’m still looking at it.”